But one brutal murder scene in the finale ended up being immensely satisfying for book readers and show watchers in equal measures — the death of Maester Pycelle at the hands of Qyburn's — formerly Varys' — little birds.

HBO

In both the books and the show, Varys calls his network of spies, typically little orphan street children, "little birds." After he leaves for Meereen, Qyburn usurps his network of spies in the capital as well as his title as Master of Whisperers on the small council in King's Landing.

We previously saw him treat the children kindly in an effort to win their trust as well as give them sweets in exchange for their whispers and spying in season six, episode three, "Oathbreaker."

When Cersei comes down to the cellar to speak to Qyburn, she notices the group of children are all Varys' former spies. "Your little birds now your Grace," Qyburn corrects her to Cersei's delight. She tells him to keep expanding the spy network to every area in the seven kingdoms.

It was only a matter of time until we saw these little birds in action.

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Maester Pycelle follows one of the little birds down to Qyburn's cellar in episode 10, ostensibly believing that King Tommen is down there and is seeking his council. However, the only one down there is Qyburn himself — and the children.

"Whatever your faults, you don't deserve to die alone in such a cold, dark place," Qyburn tells Pycelle. "And sometimes before we can usher in the new, the old must be put to rest."

The little birds then descend upon Pycelle, hacking him to death with knives and stabbing him repeatedly while Qyburn watches on — quite the violent scene involving children, but this is, of course, "Game of Thrones."

The scene was especially great because a version of it also happened in the books. In "A Dance with Dragons," Varys lures Kevan Lannister to Maester Pycelle's chambers where he explains he has already killed Pycelle and can't have him or Kevan undo all of the bad things that Cersei is doing in King's Landing. He then commands his little birds to finish Kevan off.

While the victim in episode 10 was different than in the books, watching children hack a grown man to death was still extremely unnerving and a great way to close out this character's arch on the show.